Villa Somalia announces sixth round of poll talks

GOOBJOOG NEWS|MOGADISHU: Villa Somalia has announced another round of talks with Federal Member State leaders to resolve the ongoing electoral row that has seen elections postponed three times.

A statement from the president’s office noted that the meeting will take place on Thursday in Mogadishu and will be attended by all FMS leaders and Banadir regional governor Omar Filish.

This will be the sixth round of talks between the outgoing president Mohamed Farmaajo and FMS leaders. The two sides have not been able to resolve their differences resulting in walkouts. Ahmed Madobe (Jubbaland) and his ally Abduallhi Deni of Puntland have both demanded the exit of Farmaajo from office as a condition for talks.

Goobjoog News has learnt that the meeting will take place in Halane area which hosts the UN and other foreign diplomatic posts. “The forum marks the climax of efforts towards implementing the elections agreements and recommendations,” VillaSomalia communications director Abdirashid Hashi said in a tweet.

The Council of President Candidates (CPC) too has demanded Farmaajo’s resignation and called on him to hand over power to a Transitional Council. It is not clear if Madobe and Deni have changed their position on resignation.

According to the statement from Villa Somalia, the meeting will work on finalizing the resolution of the joint technical committee which met in Baidoa last month. The committee said it has reached a deal on the contentious issues and asked Farmaajo to convene a meeting but hat never materialized.